Co-Impact Fund To Advance Gender Equality And Women’s Leadership

Co-Impact, a global philanthropic collaborative, has reiterated its commitment to raising and deploying the US $1 billion, through its Gender Fund, to initiatives working to advance gender equality and promote women’s leadership across the Global South.

The Gender Fund is now open for applications and will support locally-rooted organisations working to make systems just and inclusive and advance women’s leadership at all levels.

Grants will be awarded to initiatives that:

• Focus on systems change with the aim to improve gender-equitable outcomes and women’s leadership in the health, education, and economic opportunity sectors, and/ or institutional change to advance women’s ability to enter, rise to, and thrive in leadership positions in the academic and professional domains of law and/or economics.

• Are deeply rooted in the Global South. 100% of the grants will go to Global South and locally-rooted organizations in the countries listed below:
  • Africa: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.
  • Asia: India, Indonesia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
  • Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, and Peru.

• Are led by organizations that bring feminist approaches to the core of their initiatives. At least 75% of the grants will go to women-led organizations.

Co-Impact recognizes that there are multiple ways to advance gender equality. Through the open call, Co-Impact invites applications from Global South and locally-rooted organizations – civil society groups, think tanks and academic institutions, professional associations and networks, women’s rights groups, and feminist and allied movements, among others. Three types of grants will be awarded ranging from US $1 million to the US $20 million, allocated over a 3-to-6-year period.

Olivia Leland, Founder and CEO of Co-Impact, said: “We are really excited about this open call and recognize the critical role that women’s rights organizations and feminist movements play in advancing gender equality. I believe that together, we can move towards the common goal of making systems just and inclusive for women and girls to rise to and thrive in leadership positions at all levels.”

Full details of the criteria and process can be found in English here – (also available in six additional languages). Concept notes submission will be accepted until 20 December 2021.